1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a system and method for verifying database security. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for automating security checks across multiple platforms and reporting security violations and resolutions to the violations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Database administrators are confronted with maintaining security of multiple databases located on multiple servers. Many times database administrators are responsible for multiple platforms that may have a slightly different method of checking database security.
One aspect of database security is verifying that user id access lists are up-to-date. Users are frequently reassigned to different projects and no longer have a “need to know” of information contained on a particular database. Database security checks should be consistently performed to ensure that outdated user id's are removed from the database access list. Database administrators also need to perform database security checks due to malicious clients attempting to add user id's to database access lists.
Database security verification is time consuming and prone with errors when database administrators perform security checks using manual methods. Scripts are sometimes developed to provide database administrators with automated database security check processes. However, scripts have typically not been secure, may not report security violations in an organized manner, and may not offer resolutions to detected security violations.
Database administrators need to check the security aspects of backup files. Users removed from active files also need to be removed from corresponding backup files. A challenge found with using scripts for security checking purposes is that scripts typically check the primary database but do not check directories containing backup databases or log files.
What is needed, therefore, is an automated method of checking server security across multiple platforms that recommends a solution for each violation.